


In Every Life

by annhamilton



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fanfic of Fanfic, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, for like all of them, in true Corin fashion, past childhood truma, this was supposed to be like a little one shot but buckle in bc this is going to be long
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28798044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annhamilton/pseuds/annhamilton
Summary: Good luck. Bad luck. Luck was a duality that ruled his life, a binary that everything fell intoGood luck had it so he survived in the army for years, bad luck had it so his friends and father and uncle had died.Corin doesn't even want to go shopping but once he gets snowed in he knows his life is changed forever by the pair he meets.(Modern AU of LadyIrina's series The Mandalorian, his son, and the Storm Tropper)
Relationships: Corin the Stormtrooper (Rescue and Regret)/Din Djarin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	In Every Life

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Ice and luck](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21594913) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 



> This one is for LadyIrina and all the people who hang around her Tumblr and all the asks about the Modern AU.

Good luck. Bad luck. Luck was a duality that ruled his life, a binary that everything fell into.

Good luck had it so he survived in the army for years, bad luck had it so his friends and father and uncle had died. 

This was certainly bad luck. 

The snow had come down fast and hard and the roads were now slick and pilled high. 

Corin was stuck in this grocery store, he hadn't even wanted to enter and had been working through it slowly.

He always liked the cold but even he knew this was completely undoable in his old car.

"Hi."

Startled, Corin looked down and saw a kid, around five years old, gazing up at him. 

"Hi," Corin smiled at the kid, he nodded through the glass doors at the snow still falling. "It's beautiful isn't it?"

"Your eyes are beautiful," the kid said, or at least Corin believed he said that, the kid was at that age where he had a lot to say but lacked the linguistic finesse to actually say those words. 

Corin just smiled and looked around the store for someone who was maybe looking for their kid. 

The kid pulled on his pants leg.

"Yeah," Corin crouched down, noting the kid was wearing a green sweater that would keep him nice and warm in the chilly mom n' pop store. 

The kid wordlessly tugged him to the vegetable section of the store and Corin saw a very handsome stranger. 

"Uh," Corin had no idea what the Hell the etiquette was for this situation. 

The man turned to face Corin and his gaze dropped to look at the kid. "Kid," he picked the kid up easily. "You can't just go around collecting strangers."

"He was looking at the snow," the kid made this sound like a very logical argument, then he whispered something Corin couldn’t hear.

The handsome stranger glanced at Corin, he had very dark and warm brown eyes and golden skin, even if everything but his face was covered, including his hands, which were snug in well-worn leather gloves. 

"I'm sorry about him," the man lightly flicked his kid's ear, more teasing than actual punishment.

"It's fine," Corin had not worn a jacket today so he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants, felt stupid, adolescent and removed them. "Looks like we might be stuck here for a little bit."

"Yeah," the man let the kid back down to the floor and held out a gloved hand. "I'm Din."

Weird name but Corin's heard weirder. "Corin."

The kid held out a hand. "Grogu," the kid said, using the exact same voice as his dad. 

"Grogu?"

"His real name is George," Din explained. "But that was how he said it a few times and it stuck a bit."

"Nice nickname," Corin shook the kid's hand. 

The kid was absolutely delighted by this.

“So, uh, does the kid do this a lot, you know, collect strangers?” Corin asked. 

Din took George’s hand, keeping him close. “No, you must be special.”

Corin knew he must be blushing, he unnecessarily cleared his throat and searched for something to say. “I’m new here, does this happen a lot?” 

Din shrugged. “We get bad winters here.” 

Corin nodded, he had loved snow for as long as he could remember, so that was a bonus for living here. Corin looked down at the kid who was unashamedly staring straight at Corin. “Do you like the snow?” 

The kid shrugged. “I like all kinds of weather.” 

Corin couldn’t help but smile. He had no idea how to continue this conversation but he didn’t know what to say. All he knew was that he wanted to keep talking with this handsome stranger and his kid.

Luck seemed to have other plans as the power shorted out, the lights and heat all going out in one moment. Someone swore and someone screamed. It took Corin a few seconds to realize that it was Din who swore and the kid who screamed. 

It wasn’t completely dark thanks to the windows on the other side of the door and a few people already taking out their cell phones for some light. 

Din was crouched down, murmuring words of comfort to the kid who was nodding along. Corin looked away, he was intruding on a family moment he should have no part in. Corin didn’t have a cell phone to add to the light now filling up the store but Din had one and he took it out and switched the light on, handing it to the kid. 

Din stood up abruptly and took a step towards Corin. Something deep inside Corin made him step back, ready to flee into the snow-covered landscape if needed.

Din saw him step back and froze up. Corin didn’t know why he did it and he wished he could take it back and just act normal. 

“Can you watch the kid?” Din looked back at the kid in question, holding tight to the flashlight. “Just for a minute.” 

“Yeah, of course,” Corin nodded for extra measure. Din mumbled a thank you and turned down aisle 4. 

Geroge looked up at him and Corin moved closer to him, dropping down to one knee so he wasn’t looming over the kid. “Are you scared of the dark?” 

“No,” the kid lied, his hands clutching onto the phone tight. 

“It’s okay,” Corin sat down, leaning against the vegetable shelf. “I used to be scared of the dark,” Corin whispered it like it was a world-shattering secret. “Sometimes I still am.” 

“Are you scared right now, sir?” 

Corin was amused at the kid’s manners. “You can call me Corin.” 

“Okay, Mr. Corin.” 

Corin’s head thumped against the edge of the shelf, his hair tickling the produce. “I’m not scared right now. Good luck is on our side, I can feel it.”

The kid sat down, folding his legs under him and holding the phone against his stomach. “When will it stop snowing?” 

Corin was spared from having to answer by Din returning, holding a box with bright art showing pastry eggs stuffed with sugary cream. Din was walking and opening the box at the same time, he didn’t seem surprised by the fact that Corin and his kid were sitting on the cold floor. He just went with it and sat down on the other side of Grogu. 

He handed the kid on the eggs, opening the individual packaging first, still keeping on the gloves which was very impressive. He held one out to Corin, “Do you want one?” 

“You have to,” the kid said, sounding very excited as he scarfed down a fake egg. 

Din gave him the egg, moving slowly but steadily as he handed Corin the plastic-covered pastry. Corin took it and ripped it open, he hesitated for a couple of seconds before eating it. He wasn’t going to decline food, not when food has never been and will never be a given. 

Corin wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Thank you,” he meant much more than just a cheap sugary treat. 

Din seemed to get that and just shrugged, crossing his arms and acting like letting Corin hang around was no big deal. 

“I want another one,” Grogu said, reaching for the box just as Din angled it away from. “You’ll ruin your dinner.” 

The kid just pouted, he really was an adorable child, with big brown eyes that just made you want to move mountains for him. “Please.” 

“One more,” Din opened and handed the kid another one. “And if you have a belly-ache later you’ll know who to blame.” 

The kid didn’t seem concerned with things like _ long term consequences  _ or _ not eating too fast  _ as he devoured the second treat in under a minute. 

Corin heard the owner of the store on the phone with the city, asking when plows would be out, her voice rising as she grew more frustrated. 

Corin looked through the shelves to see the snow still piling up, the roads had been icy and bad before, but maybe he could walk home. It was only a mile or two. He opened his phone to check the temperature, he didn’t mind the cold but hypothermia didn’t care. 

“Sh--ooot,” Corim grit out as he saw the temperature had dropped too, it was all the way down to single digits. 

Din glanced at him, the kid was ripping up pieces of plastic to entertain himself. “What?” 

“It’s too cold to walk home and there is no way my car can make this,” Corin shoved his phone back in his pocket. 

“You were thinking about walking,” Din gathered up the plastic as his talked, preventing the kid from even trying to eat it. “In that.” 

Corin shrugged. “I’ve been trained to um, withstand the cold.”

Din raised his eyebrows at that but didn’t challenge him on it. “Well, you’ll have to wait.” 

Corin nodded, mostly to himself. The kid handed him a bit of plastic and did the same for his father. Corin stared at it thoughtfully before starting to fold it into a bird and handing it back to the kid. 

The kid flapped the plastic wings and smiled, beaming at Corin and handing a larger piece. Corin folded it into a star and handed it back.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Din asked, having folded his piece into smaller and smaller squares. 

Corin didn’t want to tell him the truth, that when he was a kid and he got bored during a punishment he’d started to fold all the paper he could get his hands on, before being reprimanded for it and all the paper taken from his room. “I just picked it up.”

Din didn’t challenge him. 

Corin messed up on his next try and handed the botched butterfly to the kid. “It works better with the right kind of paper.” 

George folded a piece into a plane and they were out of plastic now. He threw the plane at Din, the man grabbed the plane and twirled it in his hands, treating it very carefully, like something precious.

Corin really wouldn’t mind staying in this cold store for a while longer. 

The kid leaned against Din, his head resting against Din’s chest and the rest of him titled to his father.

Corin couldn’t help but think of how his father would have acted, he never liked physical contact and would have shoved Corin away but maybe that was only if he was old enough to not need it, he barely remembers when he was five, only a few glimpses and vague memories that he isn’t sure whether they are from dreams or stories or just his imagination. 

There is a bit of pain in his collarbone, he’d broken it before and it wasn’t a sign of good luck when it bothered him. He resisted the urge to rub at it, maybe he could go to the medicine aisle and get some pain relief pills? 

He closed his eyes tightly, who was he becoming? A few weeks after discharge and he was becoming weak. He was going to become dependent on pills and build a tolerance and when he actually needed pain relief it wouldn’t help.

Corin slowly rolled his shoulder to force himself into motion. It wasn’t even that bad. He noticed Din was twitching, his gloved fingers hitting his palm. Corin looked away, why was he even still hanging around them? 

He was about to head to another part of the store, and actually finish shopping when Din spoke, “Are you okay?” 

“Hmm?” Corin played dumb, he’d heard Din loud and clear but his brain just needs a moment to form a response. 

“Are you okay,” Din repeated. “Did you hurt your shoulder?” 

“I’m fine,” Corin automatically forced himself to relax against the shelf, the pain wasn’t bad at all, he was getting used to it. 

Din didn’t push him and Corin was thankful for it.

***

Hours pass before the storm slows a bit. An apologetic shop owner offers everyone there anything they want to eat but advises them to not open the freezers to keep the cold in. 

The kid asleep against Din and Corin just sits there with them, he has nowhere else to go after all. 

“Hey,” Din whispered, it was starting to get dark and the roads still looked very bad. “Thank you.” 

“For what,” Corin didn’t understand why his heart wouldn’t stop beating so fast. 

“For sticking around, he,” Din nodded at the kid. “Likes you.” 

“He’s a good kid,” Corin said. “Very easy going. Not very picky.”

Din chuckled at that, the corners of his mouth turning to a smile. “You’d be surprised.”

Corin couldn’t stop the grin from overtaking his face as he looked at the kid. “Well, apparently he has a thing for blue eyes because that’s why he…” Corin gestured to the three of them sitting here. 

Din was not looking right at his eyes, maintaining direct eye contact with Corin. “He told me he’s never seen eyes as blue as yours,” Din said. “I agree.” 

Corin looked away and checked his phone again. He was spared from having to say something that wouldn’t embarrass himself by the plow driving through clearing a path. 

A few people cheered but most started collecting their stuff. Corin separated from the happy family as Grogu cheered and clapped and pulled his dad to go look.

He got his bags back from where he left them and walked out the door.

He turned on his car and started warming it up, scraping ice from it as he waited, he stepped back to get a good look, forgetting he was in crappy boots with no grip he slipped, hands scrambling for nothing but a hand around waist stopped him from hitting the pavement. 

He was hauled up to his feet by the now-familiar hands that let go of him immediately once he regained his footing. 

Corin braced his hands on the frost-bitten hood of his car. “Thanks,” he said. “I’m usually much better in the cold.” 

“It’s fine,” Din said and then shoved his hands in his coat pockets. “I was wondering if you could give me a jump start.” 

***

Corin didn’t know much about cars but he knew what Din drove was, to put it plainly, a piece of shit. It was a weird gray color and boxy around the sides. 

Din’s car was two plots from Corin’s and, once moved closer, Din hooked up the cars with ease that suggested he’s done this before. Corin let him do his thing and once he was finished, gave him a smile and drove off. 

He carefully drove home and knew that meeting the two of them was good luck, even if everything else in Corin’s life was bad luck. 


End file.
